Beyond vegetables in soup or roasted alongside crispy potatoes, a Winter Chicken Salad that includes roasted pumpkin and broccoli and crispy chicken, complimenting the bed of salad greens and helping get your greens easily into your diet.
How do you eat salads in the winter? Do you have a preferential seasonal ingredient? Most vegetables in our house are consumed via roasting simply because it’s easiest and doesn’t require much oil, plus carrots and broccoli just don’t have the same flavor when steamed or boiled.
The soft and slightly caramelized exterior of the pumpkin finds a kindred spirit in the charred edges of broccoli florets in this. Roasting vegetables was definitely not something I learned growing up with my mother's favorite way to cook broccoli or even carrots by boiling them and so it was difficult to appreciate the beauty of these vegetables until
Despite the length of time to roast, overall, this Winter Chicken salad doesn’t take long to come together, especially when you consider that this can be roasted whilst you have a 30 minute meeting and have prepared the chicken the night before with only a few minutes needed to reheat this.
How to prepare the Winter Chicken Salad
- Roast your pumpkin: The pumpkin will take the longest in this salad so get that roasting first.
- Prepare the salad: Lay your salad leaves on the serving plate.
- Coat your chicken: Tenderize the chicken to even and thin it out.
- Cook the crispy chicken: With a little oil in a frying pan cook on medium until crispy and golden.
- Add broccoli to the roasting tray: In the last 10 minutes of roasting, add the broccoli and cook until slightly charred on the edges.
- Slice the chicken: Slice your chicken ready to serve.
- Add the roasted vegetables: Lay the roasted vegetables on the serving tray and scatter some of the croutons.
- Top with crispy chicken: Lay the chicken on top of the salad and scatter the last of croutons.
- Serve: This is best served immediately as a side salad or a main for a couple of people.
Tips for the best Winter Chicken Salad
No dressing here: A lot of people have a preference for dressings or try to contain the calories when they consume a salad. In our house the only dressing would be olive oil or lemon juice with neither feeling like the right fit for this so if you love a salad dressing, balsamic vinegar would work here, but this is actually perfect without anything.
Crispy katsu coating: To make this salad more interesting, the chicken is in a crispy katsu coating which adds a great texture to this salad and doesn’t require too much oil, however, if you’re trying to eat less fried and fatty foods, you could simply pan fry plain and this would still taste great with the pumpkin.
Other salads you’ll enjoy:
How to make:
Preheat the oven to 210C/410F.
Slice the pumpkin in half lengthwise and slice into ½ inch thick slices.
Lay the pumpkin onto your roasting tray and drizzle 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil evenly over. Season with a little salt.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and flip, they will bake for approximately 40 minutes to cook evenly.
Wash and lay your salad leaves on your serving plate and sprinkle over half the croutons.
Meanwhile, tenderize the chicken to thin out ¾ inch thickness.
Pour the sunflower oil into a frying pan and place on medium heat.
Crack the egg into a flat bowl and the panko and flour in two similar flat bowls.
Lay the chicken into the flour and cover evenly, next place the chicken into the egg and dredge fully.
Remove from the egg and lay into the panko breadcrumbs and cover evenly.
Place the chicken fillets into the heated oil and cook for 6 minutes until golden, flip and repeat on the opposite side.
Remove from the heat and lay on paper towels to soak the oil and to rest for 6 minutes.
Remove the pumpkin from the oven and add the broccoli florets with the remaining olive oil.
Place into the oven for 10 minutes or until slightly charred.
Remove the pumpkin and broccoli from the oven and allow to sit for approximately 5 minutes.
Place the pumpkin and broccoli on your serving plate.
Slice the chicken into ½ inch slices and spread on top of your chicken.
Finish with the remaining croutons.
Serve immediately.
Winter Chicken Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a lunch 1x
- Category: Lunch, Side
Description
Crispy chicken tops roasted pumpkin and broccoli for a crunchy, fresh and vibrant winter salad that will satisfy even salad naysayers.
Ingredients
Salad
1 small butternut pumpkin, peeled and seeds removed
1 small broccoli, stalk removed and cut into florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
100 grams/loose leaf salad mix (something peppery like rocket)
½ cup croutons
Crispy Chicken
80 milliliters / ⅓ cup sunflower oil
250 grams / ½ pound chicken (approximately 1 boneless and skinless breast)
1 egg, room temperature
16 grams / 2 tablespoons plain flour
30 grams / ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 210C/410F.
- Slice the pumpkin in half lengthwise and slice into ½ inch thick slices.
- Lay the pumpkin onto your roasting tray and drizzle 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil evenly over. Season with a little salt.
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and flip, they will bake for approximately 40 minutes to cook evenly.
- Wash and lay your salad leaves on your serving plate and sprinkle over half the croutons.
- Meanwhile, tenderize the chicken to thin out ¾ inch thickness.
- Pour the sunflower oil into a frying pan and place on medium heat.
- Crack the egg into a flat bowl and the panko and flour in two similar flat bowls.
- Lay the chicken into the flour and cover evenly, next place the chicken into the egg and dredge fully.
- Remove from the egg and lay into the panko breadcrumbs and cover evenly.
- Place the chicken fillets into the heated oil and cook for 6 minutes until golden, flip and repeat on the opposite side.
- Remove from the heat and lay on paper towels to soak the oil and to rest for 6 minutes.
- Remove the pumpkin from the oven and add the broccoli florets with the remaining olive oil.
- Place into the oven for 10 minutes or until slightly charred.
- Remove the pumpkin and broccoli from the oven and allow to sit for approximately 5 minutes.
- Place the pumpkin and broccoli on your serving plate.
- Slice the chicken into ½ inch slices and spread on top of your chicken.
- Finish with the remaining croutons.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
No dressing here: A lot of people have a preference for dressings or try to contain the calories when they consume a salad. In our house the only dressing would be olive oil or lemon juice with neither feeling like the right fit for this so if you love a salad dressing, balsamic vinegar would work here, but this is actually perfect without anything.
Crispy katsu coating: To make this salad more interesting, the chicken is in a crispy katsu coating which adds a great texture to this salad and doesn’t require too much oil, however, if you’re trying to eat less fried and fatty foods, you could simply pan fry plain and this would still taste great with the pumpkin.
Recipe by Roamingtaste
Nutrition
- Calories: 480 calories per serve
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